Katamari Damacy: A Retrospective on 2004’s Simple and All-Consuming Delight
20 years ago, a video game odyssey like no other rolled into the world
On March 18th, 2004, Katamari Damacy was released to critical acclaim. Translating roughly to “Clump Soul” in Japanese, it only takes booting up the game for players to realize they’re in for something… unique.
Braving the introductory sequence of vibrant colors, rainbows, and dancing animals, it’s unlikely anyone will make it as far as gameplay without the distinct impression that the creator is on drugs. Keita Takahashi, the mastermind behind the game, though, has reportedly shied away from even alcohol, according to Kotaku.
But one thing was certain: when Takahashi created Katamari Damacy, he wasn’t trying to conform.
The groundbreaking game is at once bizarre beyond words and too simple to summarize in more than a few sentences. It leads you to roll a ball to collect and absorb scattered objects until the lopsided sphere grows in size. With each new object absorbed, the ball grows slightly.
In early levels, you begin by collecting just crayons, tacks, and loose bits of food. By the end of the game, your ball, referred to as a Katamari, will be large enough to pummel and pick up people, elephants, and entire apartment buildings. It’s zany, inconsequential, and shockingly gratifying fun.
In a concerted attempt to make the controls straightforward, there are very few inputs that extend beyond the main two control sticks. In its lack of control options, though, it ultimately presents some farcical hurdles for even experienced gamers.
Introducing more keys and commands in games can raise the entry bar and make it seem harder for casual players to learn. But the other side of that coin is that new controls often add certain freedoms. They can help to surpass the feeling of restriction innate to many simpler games. Once people get past the initial learning curve, additional buttons typically make a digital world easier to navigate.
With limited controls, we sacrifice a level of mobility. It’s one of the reasons that older games are among the least forgiving.
Katamari Damacy, in this regard, has a loveable way of suffering from its slap-in-the-face simplicity. In its limited control scheme, it introduces a clumsiness vaguely reminiscent of what QWOP would introduce a few years later. The controls, while undemanding on paper, are hard to get the hang of. Even the easiest levels present their share of challenges. But the farce is part of the fun.
One of the most delightful challenges is learning to navigate this eccentric world. There’s a perpetual feeling of satire and surrealism that colors every moment of gameplay. Even when you fail miserably and are berated by The King of all Cosmos himself, it’s not hard to shrug off the misfortune and try, try again.
In some levels, you’re tasked with collecting a comically growing series of cows, and in others, you’re amassing as many fish or crabs as possible. Most stages, though, center around a riotously diverse array of objects and the feverish frenzy to roll them up into a colossal, asymmetrical ball.
Players learn to navigate the world, not through the landmarks that define most 3D games, but through the size order of objects scattered through the sandbox-styled environment. You need to collect dominoes before you can collect strawberries. You need to acquire little people before you begin adding big people to your flailing, screaming, rolling conglomeration.
Skill and technique appear differently in Katamari Damacy than in the average virtual world. Of course, there’s hardly a game on the market these days that’s immune to a culture of competition. But to watch professional gamers and speedrunners attempt careening through this cartoonish land — paying methodical attention to the size and shape of each item strewn throughout it — is a hilarious sight.
Although most games are designed for fun and not for ill-willed rivalries, this is especially true of Katamari Damacy. Takahashi’s mission statement was to make it whimsical, different, and above all else — fun. He felt the industry was so congested by the same plots and protagonist/antagonist arcs that much of his drive was to diverge from the mainstream and create something new.
Takahashi wanted to create something pure, joyful, and accessible to all. “Make people happy and laugh,” the creator once succinctly summed up his intentions for the game in an interview. Even with saintly intentions, though, the game has been known to give way to some occasional Mario Kart-like frustrations when things go awry. But that pandemonium is part of the pull.
There’s something innate about Katamari Damacy’s appeal — not only in its non-stop zaniness — but in its unassuming, satisfying gameplay. From beginning to end, the growth arc players follow is plain and direct. Instead of acquiring more stages, attributes, and abilities, we watch our ball grow exponentially. It’s the same concept as in almost all RPG games, but simplified into something rudimentary beyond most players’ recognition.
Yet, it’s in that unremitting simplicity that Katamari Damacy excels. It doesn’t try to be anything that it isn’t. It doesn’t get top-heavy with the weight of its own ambitions. It wants to be a bizarre pastime unlike anything else and it succeeds on every conceivable front.
Expertly adding to the levity latticed throughout every level is the buoyant, jovial — and sometimes surprisingly soulful — soundtrack. It perfectly suits its oddball material and offers no shortage of earworms for new and nostalgic fans to hum along with.
Katamari Damacy’s soaring success led to a series of sequels. But none fully recaptured the magic of the original. The creator was coerced into continuing to participate as the series lingered on, but further titles were largely considered soulless. By the time there were ten games, the Katamari name had overstayed its welcome.
2018 saw the release of a remaster that recaptured what made the original great and introduced a few new features. Titled Katamari Damacy REROLL, It’s the rare remake to earn approval from diehard fans. Even the most maniacal Katamari connoisseurs can agree it does the original game justice.
The 2004 PS2 classic marked a turning point in video game history. It showcased the reality that games could be innovative, whimsical, and bizarre, and still achieve commercial success. The triumph inspired a wave of indie developers to entertain their stranger whims. Its echoes are still felt in newer releases such as Donut County, Goat Simulator, and Human: Fall Flat.
One of Katamari Damacy’s interesting components is the philosophical underpinning. There’s often little rhyme or reason to anything within the mountains of miscellany the game presents. However, the overflow of everything offers a quietly biting critique of consumerism and society’s self-destructive love of things. It’s presented with a South Park-like wit. The light cutscenes that play after accomplishments are vignettes that drive home the game’s humor and laughable sense of disregard.
Katamari Damacy, in all of its roll-the-world-into-a-ball weirdness, is a game that’s left an impact crater like few others before it. For every new genre-bending oddity of a release, there’s a nod owed to the weirdo title that carved out a path all its own. If it weren’t for Takahashi’s celestial decluttering quest, the history of video games may never have taken that eclectic turn.
This article was originally published on Medium.
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